The present invention relates to a digital information recording/reproducing device using a recordable optical disk drive. More specifically it relates to a digital information recording/reproducing device that records an information reproduced by the optical disk drive or an information inputted from an external device, on a first record medium such as an optical disk, as well as on a second record medium whose read-out speed of information is higher than that of the first record medium such as a flash memory, and that, when reproducing the information, first reads out it from the second record medium for output and then switches the output into a reproduction output from the first record medium.
The Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2000-35800 discloses the technique relating to a device that compresses an inputted audio information, records the compressed information on a solid state record medium such as a flash memory, and expands to reproduce it.
The foregoing document describes the technique that compresses an inputted audio information, records it on a solid state record medium such as a flash memory, and expands to reproduce it. However, the document does not give any remarks to the technique that compresses the information, records on an optical disk, a large-capacity record medium such as a DVD-RAM (Digital Versatile Disc-Random Access Memory) or a CD-R (Compact Disc Recordable), and expands to reproduce it. In other words, the foregoing technique does not refer to the defect of slowness accompanied by the mechanical operation of the optical disk drive, and does not also refer to the state in which the optical disk drive cannot read out information because of the optical disk drive being in standby or being in recording.
The invention aims at providing a digital information recording/reproducing device that, when a user wishes to quickly reproduce an information by compensating the slowness in the mechanical operation of an optical disk drive and the like, or when the information cannot be read because of the optical disk drive being in standby or being in recording or the like, reads in replacement of the optical disk drive the information from a flash memory or the like whose read-out speed is higher than that of the optical disk drive, and thereby develops user interfaces.
To accomplish the foregoing object, as one of the invention, provided is a digital information recording/reproducing device constituted as follows.
The digital information recording/reproducing device is provided with an information compression unit that compresses an inputted digital information; a record control unit that have a control over recording a compressed information inputted from the information compression unit, on a first record medium as well as on a second record medium whose read-out speed of information is higher than that of the first record medium; an information signal selection unit that switches a first compressed information read from the first record medium and a second compressed information read from the second record medium for output, and an information expansion unit that expands a compressed information inputted from the information signal selection unit to output a digital information.
Methods and devices for recording/reproducing digital signals are disclosed. In one embodiment, a device for recording/reproducing digital signals includes an information compression unit, a record control unit, and an information expansion unit. The information compression unit compresses inputted digital information. The record control unit controls writing of compressed information from the information compression unit to a first record medium and a second record medium. In one aspect, the second record medium may have read-out speed of information higher than that of the first record medium. In another aspect, at least some of the compressed information written to the second record medium is also written to the first record medium. The information signal selection unit selects between first compressed information read out from the first record medium and second compressed information read out from the second record medium for output. The information expansion unit expands compressed information from the information signal selection unit. In one aspect, in response to the first record medium being in at least one of a halt state and a recording state, the information signal selection unit selects the second compressed information read out from the second record medium for output.
In another embodiment, a method for recording/reproducing digital signals is provided. The method may include the steps of: generating compressed information by compressing inputted digital information; controlling writing the compressed information to a first record medium and a second record medium whose read-out speed of information is higher than that of the first record medium; and, responsive to the first record medium being in at least one of a halt state and a recording state, outputting information read out from the second record medium. In one aspect, at least some of the compressed information written to the second record medium is also written to the first record medium.